As the first televised president, John F. Kennedy and his family formed a unique intimacy with the America people. His death, on November 22, 1963, was an equally public event that echoed in real time across the nation. Within seven weeks of his assassination, the White House received 800,000 letters of condolence, each addressed to Mrs. Kennedy. Over 1.5 million eventually made their way to her.46 years later Ellen Fitzpatrick rediscovered this archived collection at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. In them she found the breadth of the countries response to a national tragedy—from all walks of life, race, and economic status. She compiled them into a book, Letters to Jackie: Condolences from a Grieving Nation, which airs as a television special on TLC this month. Here, in remembrance of that November day, she shares her favorite letters from the collection.

Letters to Jackie

Letters to Jackie

Dear Mrs. Kennedy

Dear Mrs. Kennedy

I know the grief you bear. I bear that same grief. I am a Dallasite. I saw you yesterday. I hope to see you again. I saw Mr. Kennedy yesterday. I’ll never see him again. I’m very disturbed because I saw him a mere 2 minutes before that fatal shot was fired. I couldn’t believe it when I heard it over the radio 5 minutes later. I felt like I was in a daze. To Dallas, time has halted. Everyone is shocked and disturbed. My prayers to you.